Joe Sneve & Jonathan Ellis The Dakota Scout.com,
Gov. Larry Rhoden emerged as the Republican nominee for governor Tuesday following a first-in-state history runoff election.
Rhoden will face former Democratic lawmaker Dan Ahlers of Dell Rapids in the November election after toppling the Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden by what’s expected to be a two-digit margin.
Minutes after the final polls in western South Dakota closed Tuesday evening after the state’s first-ever runoff election in a statewide primary, the Union Center rancher had more than 71 percent of the ballots counted, while his opponent, Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, had received 29 percent.
Although those results come with a majority of voting precincts left to be counted across South Dakota, the early margin was wide enough for national news networks and the campaigns themselves to call the race.
Rhoden is expected to address supporters at his election night watch party in downtown Sioux Falls at 9:15 p.m. while Doeden’s campaign alerted The Dakota Scout that the first place finisher in the June 2 primary election will give a concession speech at 9 o’clock.
Rhoden, who inherited the governor’s mansion after former Gov. Kristi Noem signed on to be secretary of Homeland Security in 2025, is now positioned to break a streak. The previous two governors who inherited the office as lieutenant governor failed to win the office. In 1978, Democratic Gov. Harvey Wollman didn’t make it out of the primary, and in 1994 Republican Gov. Walter Dale Miller lost to Bill Janklow.
Rhoden, 67, entered the race for governor late, in the fall of 2026. By then Doeden, Speaker of the House Jon Hansen and Congressman Dusty Johnson had already declared. With Johnson in particular, Rhoden faced a tough challenge after the congressman had been able to bank millions of dollars in campaign contributions that could be transferred to a state campaign for governor.
Rhoden entered the race following success at jumpstarting plans for a new men’s prison. Following the 2025 legislative session, the plan to replace the territorial-era men’s prison in Sioux Falls appeared dead. Rhoden put together a task force to re-evaluate the plan. The task force evaluated possible locations, designs and funding. The group discarded an unpopular rural Lincoln County location and settled on a site in northeast Sioux Falls.
The task force also cut the budget of the prison from $825 million to $650 million.
Ultimately, the plan won approval from the Legislature in a special session – opening the door for Rhoden to declare his candidacy.
Tuesday’s election marks the end of an historic campaign for Doeden, who launched his gubernatorial candidacy in spring 2025. The 51-year-old Groton native billed himself as an anti-establishment outsider throughout his campaign, which he largely self-financed.
The general election is Nov. 3.
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